New Research Finds Older Australians are Tech-Savvy and Social, but Limited by Cyber Safety and Scam Concerns

New research by not-for-profit aged care provider Benetas has confirmed that technology use among senior Australians is widespread and a key to them keeping connected, despite what popular culture would have us believe. However, 80% of Australians aged 65+ are concerned about the security of their personal information when using online services and 17% reported that they have been the victim of an online, email or text message scam where they lost money.

The Benetas Digital Inclusion & Cyber Safety Among Australian Seniors Research Study surveyed just over 1,000 Australians aged 65+ via an online panel* to learn about their use of technology, explore cyber safety concerns and identify opportunities to lift confidence and capability when using technology.

The research found that eight in ten older Australians describe technology as very (41%) or somewhat (40%) important in helping them keep in touch with family and friends. Using videos calls (48%) to make or receive calls has overtaken use of landlines (45%), but mobile phones are well in front at 94%. Emails (98%) and texts (93%) are used by virtually everyone as well.

Meanwhile, 76% of women and 62% of men are on social media, with one in two older Australians using it every day. More generally, 85% enjoy using the internet, but 71% are concerned about online privacy and keeping personal information safe, and only 10% are very confident in their ability to stay safe online.  In fact, 34% of older Australians had never booked a holiday or restaurant online, and 19% had never shopped online.

Elyssia Clark, General Manager of Customer, Insights and Marketing at Benetas said the research confirms that technology is very much part of older Australians’ lives and it's extremely positive that more than half (55%) of older Australians say they would like to improve their knowledge further so they can do more things online.

"There are flow on benefits for keeping connected with families and friends, but technology use has also resulted in 80% of older Australians being concerned about the security of their personal information when they are online.

"In fact, we found privacy and security concerns are the most common limitation to using technology, well above physical, financial, or language related limitations. Ms Clark said.

Benetas' research also investigated online security behaviours and gaps. It confirmed that older Australians are doing many things right in this regard, such as using anti-virus software (78%), ignoring unsolicited messages or emails (82%) and using strong passwords (75%).

However, only 39% change their passwords regularly and just 10% of people surveyed had received any cyber safety training.

This is despite strong interest in learning more about avoiding online scams (58%), how to recognise phishing emails or texts (49%), safe online banking practices (45%) and password security (40%).

Ms Clark said: "Benetas is proud to play a leadership role in understanding the needs of older Australians and sharing insights and evidence-based recommendations that address and support community needs.

"We are using the insights and findings from our research to develop a cyber safety training program that caters to the needs of older Australians and helps keep them and their families safe online."

Find out more about Benetas

*Using research platform Glow Research